From the Ashes (Witches of The Demon Isle Book 8) (9 page)

And then Grace would let the rest of the locals know.

Who needed an emergency broadcast system or a phone tree when they had Grace? She refilled Mack’s mug one more time, Melinda’s still nearly full as she’d only been sipping, and disappeared back inside her shop.

“Oh what to do with that woman,” Mack gave out a sharp laugh.

Melinda thought it odd to be so glib about the deaths, but when looking at what Mack had to deal with day in and day out, she supposed a sense of humor and getting a laugh in now and then did the woman good. Heck, it did them all good.

“Grace is one of a kind,” Melinda decided.

“And she makes a wicked muddy brew.” Mack tipped her mug to Melinda. She tipped hers back in agreement. “A nice dark brew to cure what ails ya.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

The creases around Mack’s eyes deepened as she took another swig.

“You look like you got about as much sleep as we did last night,” noted Melinda.

“Yeah, Charlie filled me in on your ongoing patrols.” She tipped her mug again. “Here’s to hoping the dang vampire up and goes away.”

“I’ll toast to that one too. For once, just this once, let it be someone else’s problem.”

“Amen.” They both drank and laughed. They’d never be so lucky. But at least it lightened the mood.

The crowd on the street parted, oohing and aahing as a sleek black limo parted the bumbling about tourists and pulled up alongside the side of the street outside the café. Mack recognized the vehicle, having seen it about town a few times, but had yet to meet the owner. She had a sinking feeling her free coffee time was about to get sucked away. 

A door opened and a middle-aged man popped out of the car. He was a taller, wiry fellow, wearing a tweed jacket and an energetic smile with kind eyes that seemed to dance with laughter, and were honed in on Mack.

“I say, are you by chance, Mackenzie Briggs, the local sheriff?” his accent was thick and British, but he spoke like he’d been in the states long enough to pick up some local slang.

Mack lifted her coffee and took one long swallow, finished it off and slammed down the mug. “Had to say I sat down long enough to do that.” She got up and addressed the man. “Yes, I’m the sheriff. How can I help ya?”

“Oh, splendid. Indeed, splendid. I was about to find your office and my driver told me no need, you’re right here, and here you are.” He looked as though he’d won some unexpected prize.

“Yes, indeed I am,” she returned evenly, adjusting her gun belt.

The man ogled her up and down. “A woman in uniform…” he purred in what should have been an enticing invitation, but Mack was having none of it. 

Melinda almost snorted out of her nose.

“How can I help ya?” Mack questioned all business-like.

“Dinner. Tonight.” The man stated as if the matter, settled.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I do have actual business, but I’m afraid you’ve rather blown me off my feet and nearly made me forget why I pulled over.”

Melinda covered her mouth with her hand, holding in a laugh. She had never seen a man so bold, with Mack as his target. The sheriff cast her a haughty side-glance and ignored the man’s dinner remark.

“How about you state your business.”

“Ah, yes. Where are my manners?” He bowed his head in greeting. “I am Nethaniel Dante, owner of the Channel Four TV Station.”

“Well, so’in ya are.” Mack had known this fact when the car pulled up. “Nice to meet ya, Mr. Dante. Welcome to our island.” She remained professional.

“Oh, just Ned, if you please. No need for formalities. And I find The Demon Isle most hospitable. Especially now I see the island beauty I’ve been missing out on.”

Mack exhaled sharply. “Mr. Dante…” her gaze shot daggers of watch it, Mister! I’ve got a gun and I’m very willing to use it. Which only enticed him further.

He let out another trilling purr and growled out, “Fiery. Untamed. Bloody delicious.”

Mack opened her mouth to retaliate when Ned Dante continued.

“Although I hope you accept my dinner invitation, I’m afraid I do need your professional skills as well. I’m sure you’re spot on at what you do.” He tossed her a playful wink. “I’m afraid I need to file a missing person’s report. You see, one of my employees has up and gone missing.”

“Missing?” replied Mack seriously, ignoring the man’s audacious flirting.

Melinda’s eyebrow lifted, listening in. She sure hoped this had nothing to do with the vampire. This Mr. Dante was not only cheeky, and keen on Mack, but in charge of the local news, and the D.E.S.I. Reporter, Courtney Jessup. Who’d quit.

The man let out a tense sigh, taking on a sobered pose. “My newest employee. Courtney Jessup. Bloody shark of a reporter. Started here a few weeks ago and a few days ago, she quit on me without any decent excuse. But now she’s all but disappeared.”

“If she quit, she probably left the Isle,” suggested Mack, hoping to make quick work of this situation. The way the man ogled her sent a twitch down her spine she hadn’t felt in… well… far too many years to give two shakes about now!

“I may not have known Courtney Jessup long, but I would wager my life she’s not the up and quit type. And without collecting a single paycheck? Leaving behind all her personal and professional belongings?” Ned had the sheriff there, couldn’t deny there was reason to question.

Mack’s gaze pinched together and she cast a wary glance down at Melinda. The sheriff was getting a sinking feeling the woman was actually missing, or in some kind of trouble. Supernatural or otherwise.

“I’ll see you later, Mack,” Melinda whispered, getting up from the table. She needed to get home and tell Charlie this news.

“And I’ll be in touch…” she mouthed back. Mack instructed Ned to meet her at the sheriff’s office and she’d do a proper report and investigation. The man purred like a kitten, acting like she’d invited him to her private home.

“Now see here, Mr. Dante,” she stated formally.

Melinda snuck away without hearing more. Poor Mack. Or perhaps, yay Mack. She wasn’t sure what to think of Nethaniel,
Ned,
Dante. He was riling Mack pretty easy though and was at least good for a laugh if nothing else.

Not long after, Melinda sauntered into the mansion and hollered out for Charlie. She found him standing in the hallway, staring flatly at their parent’s bedroom door.

“Hey…” she called out softly.

He sucked in, seeing her. “Sorry. Was off somewhere else.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Fine. What’s up?”

Melinda explained the new development regarding Courtney Jessup. “Timing sucks. On her behalf at least. She goes missing right when there’s a vampire on the loose.”

“Yeah, not a good sign. But we’ll wait till we hear from Mack. Stupid nosy reporter probably got wind of the story and decided to try to capture the vamp in the act or something. Not realizing it was real.”

“You think she’d be that stupid?”

“Wasn’t it you willing to play bait the other night?”

“Yeah, but that was knowing what we were up against and having two witch brothers to fly in and save the day.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Okay, yeah I get your point,” she caved. “But she’s a reporter. She’s inquisitive. She doesn’t know it’s actually real. What do you expect?”

“If she’s still alive,” started Charlie, “I imagine she’ll run away with her tail between her legs.”

“Be one less problem to deal with,” Melinda decided. She followed Charlie into the kitchen where Michael was walking in. They filled him in and waited anxiously for Mack to call. Even agreeing that the reporter might have bitten off more than she could chew, none of them wished her any harm, and hoped her body wasn’t the next to be discovered.

After an hour with no call, Melinda groaned and blew out a breath. “This is stupid. We’re just wasting time. Not getting anywhere finding this vampire. William’s still missing. And now this reporter.”

“Yay. Crap-pile, getting high again.” Michael’s brain didn’t even want to think about it, his thoughts firmly wound around his girlfriend.

“I think I’ll go check the perimeter of the grounds,” said Charlie. “I’ve got some updates to the security protections I haven’t finished yet.”

“Need some help?” asked Melinda.

“No. I got it.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know once we hear from Mack.”

CHAPTER 8

Charlie left his siblings. Once outside, a weight lifted. There was something suffocating about being inside the house the last few days, and the fresh air calmed his nerves. He set into waving his palm around, redoing some of the protection spells he’d put around the mansion, strengthening them. He still hadn’t added any to ward off vampires, so he needed to accomplish that too.

It rubbed him as wrong, with William still out there somewhere. However, if he were here, Charlie was certain the vampire would agree to his actions. He imagined his friend’s reaction to finding out they did not take all necessary precautions, because it might be him they were warding off. William would scold them all, severely.

A throat cleared behind him.

Charlie froze, lips pursed, certain of the female that haughty sound belonged to; he swore he could see Lizzy’s arms folded and her toe tapping in annoyance. He turned, surprised, she was not, and he was wrong; but she wasn’t smiling happily at him either.

“Hi,” he greeted gently.

“Hi?” Her gaze burned, her arms folding.

Charlie forced back a grin when her toe started up. She was so damn cute when she was angry. And a little scary. And he hated upsetting her, it was not on his top favorite things to do list.

“That’s seriously all you have to say, Charlie?
Hi?
”

“I’ve been… busy,” he croaked out. 

“I understand things have been rough, but it’s been two weeks, Charlie.”

“Yes. Yes it has.” He sucked in, tensely. 

Lizzy’s foot stopped tapping but her arms remained folded.

“So I take it, since you haven’t asked me out on a date yet, or even really spoken to me, that you’ve been overthinking things?”

“Oh, I’ve most definitely been doing that.”

She shook her head, both amused and annoyed. “I’m going to have to fix that.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” he stated, a somber chuckle on his lips. “I am sorry, Lizzy. I did
try
not to overthink things.”

“Somehow I do not believe you. So what are you doing?” she inquired, changing the subject.

“Checking the protections I put up around the grounds. Don’t need more unwanted intruders sneaking onto the property or into the house. I put some protections up around the old tree in White Pines, too. To secure the power source, at least temporarily.” He went on, explaining the deaths by vampire bite and William’s sudden, unexplained departure from the island. Planning Emily’s father’s funeral. He expected Lizzy to understand his lack of asking her on a date once he’d finished, but instead, she refolded her arms, her toe strumming atop the ground.

“And you haven’t asked for my help, why?”

“Um…” his brain was at a loss. Anything he said was going to sink him in hot water. More than he was already boiling in.

“You Howard men never change. Even hundreds of years ago, you were all stubborn and pig-headed. Too headstrong to ask for help if it might hurt your precious egos.”

“I thought the complete demoralization of myself in front of Eva Jordan was what made you fall for me...” his tone was a blend of far too smug and casual, and he figured this out a few seconds too late.

Her burning gaze fixed on him so hard he thought flames might burst out of his skin.

“Sorry.”

“You’re not even close to sorry, Charlie Howard.”

“I’m really, really, really sorry,” he tried again, as meekly as he could muster.

“You don’t show up at a girl’s house out of the blue, claim you love her and then disappear and try to pretend it didn’t happen. And pretend you don’t need her help when obviously, you do. Taking out the
us
equation, isn’t that detrimental to your job?”

She had him there. And it did seem silly,
now,
to think he could do such a thing. Well, did such a thing. Especially since he’d thought about asking her for help numerous times but chickened out, because he’d have to face the truth of what he’d told her. And he should always put security of the island first. It was his job… she’d hit the nail on the head when she’d said his ego had gotten in the way.

She frowned, the fire in her gaze dissolving into an ember of what Charlie could only call, hurt. He’d done that by not respecting her enough to confide in her. Yeah, he’d been a gigantic idiot.

“Charlie, if you want to back out, now’s your chance. I won’t hold it against you. I won’t try to change your mind. I will even still help you because I care about this island as much as you do. I would be lying though, if I didn’t admit I’d be disappointed.”

“Lizzy, no. That’s not…” he approached her, words refusing to come out right. “I mean. It’s just that… I still… you are…” He groaned, tongue befuddled, unable to keep up with his thoughts.

“Do you regret what you told me?”

“No. No, I don’t.” This was the truth, without hesitation. He looked her straight in the eye. “I don’t regret what I said. I meant every word. It’s just so… complicated.”

“Only because you’re making it that way.”

“Yes. You’re right. I am. But even right now, fully admitting I’m making it complicated, and overthinking, my mind goes to all these bad places and I can’t stop it. There are important things I have no answers to. Things I don’t have time to figure out right now. Things that will be dangerous and life-threatening for you if I can’t find those answers.”

“Do you think I’m naïve, Charlie?”

He gave his head a definitive shake.

“I’m not a silly girl with stars in her eyes. There will be some challenges. And I do not expect you down on one knee, proposing, starting a family tomorrow. But how about, getting to know each other. Letting me help you. And just… ask me out on a date already! A girl does like to be romanced, Charlie.”

“Romance…” he stammered. “I can do that.”

Lizzy smiled, wanting to believe him.

“Just as soon as we catch this vampire,” he added without thinking, instantly wincing as it was too late to take it back.

She rolled her eyes and expelled a vexed groan.

Melinda called out to them. “Mack phoned.”

Charlie, grateful for the distraction, headed toward the mansion. He stopped a few steps in and motioned for Lizzy to go first.

“See, romantic.”

“Wow. I’m tingly all over.” She shook her head. The werewolf was hot, and hot headed, but had obviously never romanced a girl, ever.

Charlie sighed, stepping in behind her.

“Lizzy, wait.”

She stopped just inside the front door and gave him her full attention.

“Look, I… I’m one endless apology lately. But I am sorry. I don’t understand how to do the whole relationship and job thing at the same time. The truth is… I’ve never actually asked someone out on a date before.” Humiliation grated his admittance. “I have been overthinking things, and I’ve been a major jerk, but more than that I plain old chickened out.”

“Yeah, that was hard to guess,” she returned, sarcasm thick in the grin she was holding in.

“I’ve always had to be so careful. I’ve never dated like normal people do. Ever.”

“Charlie…” she stepped close enough to place her palm against his chest. Such a simple act and yet his heart thrummed at the gentleness of her small hand splayed against him. “If I wasn’t interested don’t you think I would have made that obvious?”

“Yes. But I still got scared, because of all the reasons we’ve already discussed and more. Being a werewolf makes it dangerous for me to get too close to people. Well, humans anyway…”

“You mean to be intimate.”

“Yes. So I’ve never dated before. My wolf is hard to tame. His instincts are to bite and I can’t trust in the heat of the moment to keep him under control.” He saw a flash of heat in her eyes. Not the blaze of anger she had earlier. A heat he and his wolf wanted to explore the depths of… even standing here, explaining how dangerous it would be, his wolf was licking his lips and slathering his teeth, tantalized at the thought of sinking his teeth into Lizzy.

She likes the idea.

No. Too many questions. I won’t hurt her, or condemn her to live like me.

You’ll have to if you want her belly swollen with your children.

Charlie groaned, begging the wolf to shut up, at the same time enticed by the soft hand sliding up the outside of his tank top in a teasing motion.

“And I’d wager Charlie Howard had girls throwing themselves at him from all sides. So he wouldn’t have had to ask anyone out, would he?”

He could not contain a knowing grin. He’d never had a problem attracting human females. Or supernatural ones. “Regardless…” he captured Lizzy’s hand before it reached the bare skin of his neck. “I could never act on anything, no matter how badly I wanted to.” He kissed her palm.

“Well, you’re all grown up now, Charlie. And you have this…” She unwound her hand from his and traced the Guardian ring on his finger.

Her eyes drew him to her, in a manner that set his skin aflame and had the wolf pounding for escape. He gritted his teeth at the lewd mental images tossing around his brain.

None of those things would be happening until he had answers, to questions he didn’t have a clue how to locate the answers to. There wasn’t enough time in the day to get it all done. Even if Michael wasn’t spending as much time as possible with Emily, and William wasn’t gone. There still wouldn’t be enough time.

But he could start with romance.

“So, um, Lizzy. Would you like to go out on a date with me?”

“That didn’t sound too hard at all,” she quipped lightly, running her fingers up his arm.

“With you right here, looking at me like that, the hard part is not acting on every other impulse I have.”

She dropped her hand, a seductive grin stretching her lips.

“Well then, Charlie. To answer your question, I’ll have to think about it.” She pulled away and moved to go into the kitchen.

Charlie’s face pinched inward and he reached out, spinning her around.

“Think about it?”
he growled
.

She smiled. Said nothing. Shrugged. And turned away.

Without her saying it aloud, he knew exactly what she was thinking. That’s for being a total douchebag the last two weeks. Payback for his miserable behavior.

“She’s going to be the death of me,” he muttered, following her, hands fisted, his temper ready to throw the woman over his knee.

He deserved the spurn though. Didn’t like it, but deserved it.

And like it or not, they needed her help as they were spread thin right now. And Lizzy was right to remind him that protecting the island was more important than his potentially injured ego.

They met Michael and Melinda in the kitchen, both poorly holding back grins meaning they’d heard far more than he’d have liked. He sent them each a silent warning, telling them to butt out of his love life. He had enough problems already without his love life becoming sibling business.

“Hi, Lizzy,” greeted Melinda. “Glutton for punishment, aren’t you? I’m talking about helping us, and dealing with my brother…”

Lizzy lifted an eyebrow at Charlie, and shrugged, agreeing. “I’m hoping it’s one of those pleasurable kinds of pain.”

Okay. Change of subject time.
Enough with the innuendo and sibling love life discussion. “So what did Mack have to say?” Charlie got them back on track; frown lines gutting into canyons as the real topic came back into play.

“Right, nothing too exciting really,” explained Michael. “Just that Courtney Jessup quit her job, was supposed to stop in a day later to pick up her belongings and her paycheck, and has not. The station owner, Nethaniel Dante, or people call him Ned I guess, went to the apartment he rented for her concerned she hadn’t shown up, and the door was unlocked, all her belongings still there, but no sign anyone had actually been there recently. Mack’s sending her deputy over to take a look at things now.” He discharged a clipped laugh, though the subject wasn’t funny. “Mack was a bit flustered…”

Melinda laughed loudly. “You can say that again.”

“What do you mean?” asked Charlie.

“She took so long getting back to us because apparently, this Nethaniel Dante, Ned, guy, is a bit smitten with her,” Melinda explained. “They kept getting off subject,” she added, in a terrible attempt at an accent matching Ned’s. “He’s not from the States.”

“Gathered that. Smitten over Mack, huh? That is hard to imagine,” remarked Charlie. Although the thought of anyone hitting on Mack and getting her all flustered brought a laugh to his lips. A genuine laugh that felt nice to let out and hear. “It’s not so much that it’s funny,” he claimed, unable to stop grinning at the picture in his mind.

“And yet it totally is,” Melinda chimed in. “I mean, C’mon. It’s Mack! You should have seen the guy ogling her. Oh my God! You would’ve died.”

“I can’t even imagine it,” said Michael. “I flirt with Mack all the time and she’s never once been remotely serious.”

“Guess your baby face didn’t do it for her,” Melinda ribbed. That got them all laughing. For a moment, in their kitchen, doing something utterly silly and normal.